Kathmandu : Leading Bangladeshi private airline US-Bangla Airlines has applied for resumption of its Kathmandu operation, seven months after suspending operations following the deadly crash at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in March. Fifty-one people were killed in the crash, reports a local news paper.

But it seems "highly unlikely" that the airline will get the airport's slot any time soon, said a high-level source at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The carrier has planned daily scheduled flights from October 28.

"It's because of unprofessional comments directed towards TIA by the airline's top executives, when the investigation was ongoing," he said. "It was a blame game which we deemed as unprofessional conduct by the airline's officials."

"We received the application from US-Bangla two weeks ago. We are yet to decide on the application," said Rajan Pokhrel, deputy director general of CAAN. Pokhrel, however, did not clarify whether a landing slot will be allocated for the airline.